Recent Campus Shootings Raise Concerns about Security

On October 1st of this year, a 26-year-old student opened fire on the Umpqua Community College campus in Roseburg Oregon, killing nine people and injuring nine more. Just eight days later, two more shootings took place at Northern Arizona University and Texas Southern University. Each of these shootings took the lives of one person, and left four more inured.

This latest rash of school shootings has once again rocked the nation, leaving politicians, parents and school administrators struggling to identify a solution to this disturbing trend of violence. It’s hard to say what the correct response to these tragic events is, but one thing seems certain: college campuses are no longer the safe havens for students and educators they once were.

With this troubling realization in mind, many schools across the country are working to bolster their campus security in order to avert future tragedies. Some schools, such as USC, are offering instructional classes to help students and teachers respond quickly and get to safety in the event that an active shooter is reported on campus. Others are expanding their campus police forces to provide more complete security coverage to staff and students. Many schools are also paying close attention to social media outlets in hopes of identify potential threats before they become catastrophes. At UConn, school officials lead a roundtable discussion following the Shootings in Oregon, Texas and Arizona to address safety concerns and ideas for improved security with the local community.

Meanwhile, in other communities already affected by campus violence, students and teachers are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered sense of safety.